Mateo Kovacic and Mauro Icardi score to lead Inter to third straight victory

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Inter Milan made it three Serie A wins in a row with a hard fought 2-1 victory over Cagliari on Monday.

After dominating the first half, Roberto Mancini's men took the lead just after the break through Mateo Kovacic and Mauro Icardi then doubled the lead before an own-goal from goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo set up a tense finish.

The result moved Inter within four points of a European spot while Cagliari remain in the relegation zone.

Godfred Donsah had the first chance of the game as he fired high over the bar but Inter soon began to take control without being able to create any clear-cut chances.

When a chance eventually came, it fell to Lukas Podolski but the German's decision-making let him down as he brought the ball down on his left and tried to beat two men and the goalkeeper instead of shooting.

He did mange to play the ball back to Marcelo Brozovic but the Croatian could only fire over the bar from around the penalty spot.

Podolski then headed a Davide Santon cross wide before Cagliari were indebted to goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic just before the half-hour.

Santon found Podolski inside the area and he passed to Brozovic who brought an impressive save from Brkic, with the Serbian doing even better to get to Icardi's rebound.

Icardi and Podolski both had chances to put Inter ahead before the break and it was no surprise when they took the lead less than two minutes into the second half.

Podolski's ball was chested down by Icardi and, while he could not quite get it under control, Kovacic was on hand to supply a beautiful finish.

Donsah quickly tried his luck down the other end but his swerving shot from the edge of the area was gathered by Carrizo at the second attempt.

All of a sudden, the home side had their tails up, and Andrea Cossu missed a golden opportunity as he blazed over from inside the penalty area.

Cagliari were having the better of it now and Cossu was involved again just before the hour as he set up Samuele Longo, but the on-loan striker could not score against his parent club with Carrizo making an impressive point-blank save.

Inter had been soaking up the pressure but when they had their next chance in the 68th minute they took it, Gary Medel playing a ball over the top which Icardi controlled on his right foot, cut inside and curled inside the post with his left.

That should have put the game to bed but just six minutes later Cagliari were back in it via the unfortunate Carrizo. Longo outmuscled Juan and then beat Nemanja Vidic for pace, firing in a shot which hit the post but ricocheted onto the keeper's back and into the net.

The home side pushed for an equaliser in the closing stages but it was Inter who nearly scored again as Hernanes hit the underside of the bar in stoppage-time, with the ball bouncing down on the wrong side of the line.